The Death of Uchiha Sasuke
by Zuzeca
Summary: While awaiting his execution, Sasuke thinks on the past.


A/N: This is a short expirimental piece I created, which was inspired by part of _The Death of Artemio Cruz_ by Carlos Fuentes. Those who have read this bizarre book will recognize the strange style. It seemed like a decent work for my first post on this website, I hope you all enjoy reading it. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Death of Artemio Cruz, they are the property of their respective copyright holders.

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The Death of Uchiha Sasuke**

You will sit alone in your solitary cell, its walls sweating, damp with mildew. There will be no windows to allow light to enter, but the hitai-ate bound around your eyes will block your vision and you will not notice. It will not be the one you were captured in, the mark of new loyalty, but the one you let fall in the wet mud all those years ago, scarred by the mark of the one you called friend. You will find this ironic, but you will have no heart left to laugh as you wait for the dawn. You will remember wondering as a young boy why it is that persons are sentenced to die at dawn, and you will remember that you received no true answer. You will wish your hands were free so that you might touch the symbol on your forehead, but whether to cast it away or to hold it close you will know not. You will close red eyes made useless by darkness and you will choose again: you will choose another life:

You will choose to stay home the fateful day when the madness took Itachi and you will be slaughtered with the rest of your clan, laid out beneath the cold earth, where at last you will find rest.

You will jump without a thought before hundreds of deadly needles among those chill ice mirrors, and you will have no regrets as Naruto takes you in his arms and sheds tears for your death.

You will not stand helplessly before the stranger in the Forest of Death. You will rise up and help Naruto cut the giant serpent down and the two of you will take Sakura and flee. You will never receive the cursed mark upon your neck and feel the siren call of power and ambition in your veins.

You will tell Naruto to take Sakura and run while you hold off the monster which has risen from the sand. However, Naruto will refuse and you will once again watch as he clashes with Gaara. Your body will be weak from using the Chidori, but you will feel a sense of awe as you realize just how far the idiot has come.

You will fight Itachi in the hallway of that cheap motel and your heart will not be filled with hatred, but instead a desire to protect your most precious friend.

Your challenge on the hospital roof will not be made in anger and jealousy, and gnawing worries of inadequacy will not devour you afterwards.

You will tell the Sound Four: no.

You will tell Sakura: yes.

You will open your ears to Naruto's words at the Valley of the End and you will accept his offer of friendship. The two of you will return to Konoha and train together to defeat Itachi.

You will never leave behind the team that will become your surrogate family and you will never look into a face similar to your own. You will not feel an undercurrent of anger sweep through you when you realize you have been replaced.

You will never have the blood of Konoha warriors on your hands.

You will be a ninja.

You will not be Uchiha Sasuke, you will not be fifteen years old, you will not be the younger of two brothers, you will not wield a katana, wear a white gi, layer leather and steel arm guards beneath your shirt, eat onigiri, despise sweet foods, you will not be the vessel of a man who clings to the world long after he should have left it.

You will never have been captured through the fault of a convoluted plan and you will not wait with the knowledge that your final hour, if indeed it is, is creeping closer. You will try not to be driven mad by the endless cycle of _now_, this instant, this very moment, without past or future.

You will hear the heavy scrape of the metal door, signaling the final divergence in the path of destiny. You will sense the proximity of a warm body, hear the puff of exhaled breath and your own will freeze in your lungs as you hang on the precipice. You will feel clumsy hands fumble with the knots on your wrists, before loosening the one behind your head. You will open your eyes, sharp and clear and never clouded by the curse of the Mangekyo and you will see blue. You will see forgiveness.

You will reach out your hand:

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A/N: Loved it? Hated it? Please review and tell me what you think. Remember this was an expiriment. Thank you for reading. 


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